Aleksandrovsk Bolshevik Uprising
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| Aleksandrovsk Bolshevik Uprising | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Soviet–Ukrainian War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Symon Petliura |
Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko Aleksei Mokrousov | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
|
250 Haydamaks 40 Free Cossacks 17th, 63rd and 49th regiments of the Ukrainian People's Army |
300 Red Guards Detachment of the Black Sea Fleet 1st Petrograd Detachment of the Red Army | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1 killed, 4 wounded | 13 Red Guards and 5 sailors killed | ||||||
Aleksandrovsk Uprising was an armed insurgency of workers of the Aleksandrovsk city on 25 December (12 December) 1917. The uprising was headed by Bolsheviks against the Central Council of Ukraine.
Background
After the capture of Kharkiv by the Bolsheviks, detachments of sailors and Red Guards were tasked with occupying the important railway junctions of Synelnykove and Aleksandrovsk. Representatives of the Central Council of Ukraine reported in Kyiv that 8,000 Bolsheviks, equipped with machine guns and artillery, were advancing from Kharkiv in the direction of Synelnykovo in order to cut off Ukraine from Donbas. In this situation, Symon Petliura ordered the commandant of Alexandrovsk to dismantle the railway and detain the sailors.
On December 23, Synelnykove was captured and the Bolsheviks launched an offensive on Alexandrovsk.
Battle
At that time, a conflict between the local Bolsheviks and the Ukrainian authorities was brewing in the city. At the beginning of the conflict, the advantage was clearly on the side of the Reds. Only 40 free Cossacks, 13 Ukrainian soldiers and a dozen officers could oppose the 300 Red Guards. The Chairman of the Ukrainian County Council Magalevsky had no choice but to turn to Ekaterinoslav. Haydamaks of the 3rd Haydamatsky Kuren (250 soldiers led by a centurion) came to the rescue from the provincial center. On the night of December 24, the Haydamaks, together with the Free Cossacks, captured a number of armored vehicles, 2 ready to fight and 10 in need of repair, and disarmed the enlarged soldiers of the 3rd Rear Auto Repair Shop.
On December 24, left-wing revolutionaries (Bolsheviks and anarchists) decided to "test" Ukraine's defense of the industrial city. In the evening of that day, a detachment of sailors of the Black Sea Fleet (led by Aleksei Mokrousov), who arrived from Crimea, lined up the local Red Guards for a joint performance. Sailors occupied the South Railway Station and the Telegraph. Then an armed detachment of sailors moved to the city center, where it was defeated by Ukrainian troops. After that, the parties exchanged terms for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, with the mayor of Aleksandrovsk acting as a mediator. As these conditions proved unacceptable to both sides, hostilities continued.
At night, a detachment of sailors occupied the post office and the city power plant. Fighting broke out in the city center on Freedom Square. Haydamaks and free Cossacks managed to recapture the power plant. At this time, the Bolsheviks went on the offensive at Catherine's Workshops, where the command post of Ukrainian forces was located.
By the morning of December 25, the Bolsheviks captured the center and began shelling Catherine's Station. Despite the seemingly imminent defeat, Ukrainian troops managed to hold their ground near the Deca plant. By evening, reinforcements arrived: units of the 17th and 63rd regiments and the machine-gun team of the 49th regiment of the Ukrainian People's Army. Eventually, the Red Forces were surrounded, the uprising was defeated, and the sailors' detachment was forced to return to Crimea.
As a result of the fighting, the Red Guards lost 13 people and 5 sailors were killed. According to the local newspaper Narodnaya Zhizn, Ukrainian forces lost 1 soldier and 4 wounded.
The victory of the Ukrainian forces could not be consolidated. On January 2, 1918, Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko's troops, anarchists, and the Red Guards were able to capture Aleksandrovsk quite easily. The 1st Petrograd detachment led by Polyakov entered the city. The Haydamaks and free Cossacks retreated beyond the Dnieper in small detachments.
Results
The commander of the Bolshevik troops, Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, noted that Aleksandrovsk was "heavily occupied (only) until January 15." Shootings and repressions began. In February 1918, the church was banned. Dissatisfaction with the new government was caused by the memorial service for Taras Shevchenko. G. Gordienko, a resident of the city, later recalled that in the eyes of the Soviet authorities, Shevchenko was at the same level as, for example, Mykhailo Hrushevsky. Portraits of the poet were ridiculed, eyes were pierced, and so on.